Thursday, January 22, 2009

look who's FIVE...

And man oh man is she ever over the moon about it! She's been waiting and waiting and waiting for the big day.And believe it or not, there were some other people just about as excited as she was:These girls were all on top of decorating including a candy bar poster, decorating her door, her chair, wrapping the gifts...they were ON it. They're also the party planners for her party tomorrow. They are completely in charge and they are loving it. They hand-made all the invitations, complete with tons of eraser marks and peanut butter accidentally smeared on a few of them. I'll admit it was a little hard for me to let go of my control and let them do whatever they wanted, but I warmed up to the idea pretty quick. I LOVE that they did them with so much love. They've made me a list of things I need to get them at the store tomorrow for the big shebang. And I couldn't be happier to have my own little event planners.Lucy wasn't quite as excited about the party-planning..she was pretty focused on how much chocolate frosting she could eat...Dave's brother and my brother were here to help celebrate for our family bash.Claire got to be the "Beary Special Person" at preschool this week which happened to be in conjunction with her birthday. Man alive she was happy about that too.Oh man we love this girl. Five of the many top reasons why:1) she has the most sparkly, contagious smile I know2) she is incredibly kind to her siblings...always willing to share whatever she has3) she gets SO excited about things and opens her eyes as big as saucers and drops her jaw to the ground in a humongous smile to show it4) she's awesome at taking any kind of prescription we put in front of her...she has all these health issues right now and we feel so bad for her but she just deals with it so well5) she sometimes just stops in the middle of whatever she's doing and comes over and tells me she loves me on a regular basis.

Oh I can't stop at five!6) she is super athletic. I think she inherited her Dad's genes on that instead of mine (hallelujah!) She's doing gymnastics right now and is loving it...she goes on short runs with me sometimes and smiles all the way.7) she sometimes helps without even being asked and gets pretty darn delighted about it. She cleaned her whole room the other day as a surprise and then did the dishes for the big kids the other night8) she's the best helper to Lucy I could ever imagine. She sits with us in Lu's therapy sessions and models all the stuff Lucy's supposed to do, which makes Lu excited to do it.9) she talks things out...one of the skills I try SO hard to teach my kids mostly to no avail. When she has a problem she talks it out instead of just crying and I love it.10) she's in most of my "healthy clubs" with me...the "sugarsnap pea for snacks club" the "tomato club" the "salad club," etc. She's a healthy eater.

I got a little teary-eyed as I gave her a kiss and watched her skip off to her preschool carpool today for two reasons: 1) I love her more than I can ever say, and 2) I got thinking about how big she's growing. I love it but can't stand it all at the same time when kids grow up so darn fast.

K- love that cute little face and love the name even more. didn't know her middle name was Hazel. If this little baby of ours pops out in the next 3 weeks a girl her name will be Claire Hazel (total family name) love it so much.

Hi there! What a great tribute to your darling girl. I'm a friend of Jandi Oxnam and an aspiring photographer, so I look to you for inspiration. Hey, I was wondering if you could tell me where you got your little girl Claire's C necklace - (I wrote last summer, but you mentioned that things were crazy for y'all then.) my little 4 year old Chelsea would love one and Claire's looks perfect for that age. If you could get back to me I would appreciate it - nataliehackingAThotmailDOTcom - many thanks!

She's a cute girl - with and without cold sores! Happy Birthday to you too, Shawni. I hope you enjoy your little get-away - Dave is a smart, smart man. That really is the perfect gift for a mom - TIME!

Your kids are so lucky to have all the milestone in their lives documented so beautifully with your photos- you do a great job! And then, blogging too! I know that can be a bit of a chore, and I'm so impressed you find the time to do it! Good for you, and happy birthday Claire!!! :)